The tempting shortcut
An invoice sits in a folder without a payment attachment. It is tempting to read that silence as nonpayment. Yet the payment source may be unconnected, the bank export incomplete, or the evidence stored elsewhere. The folder establishes that an invoice was observed; its missing attachment does not establish an overdue debt.
A counterexample that matters
A paid invoice can appear unpaid when its payment falls outside the imported bank period. Looking harder at the invoice cannot repair that gap. First establish whether the payment source covers the relevant party and period. Then inspect the due-date basis, amendments and permitted exceptions. Without those checks, record incomplete data and identify what would resolve it.
Coverage is not allocation
Consider a hypothetical case: two invoices for one customer have equal amounts, but only one is past its supported due date. A complete export contains one matching payment with no invoice reference. Coverage is complete; allocation is ambiguous. Do not choose an overdue invoice merely because one balance remains. Seek allocation evidence and keep the item unresolved until the payment can be assigned.
A reviewable decision
ABOLTUS is in development. The proposed CRM would explain the observed invoice, checked payment coverage, contributing records, their source locations and unresolved questions. A local reminder could request owner review; an external message would require separate authorization. The practical rule is to distinguish incomplete evidence from a supported discrepancy, and treat either as a review finding rather than a payment-enforcement or legal conclusion.
What still needs testing
Suggested tests include an unresolved invoice, a paid invoice outside the imported period and a partial payment. Add the hypothetical allocation case to test whether complete coverage is mistaken for certainty. These are illustrative evaluation cases, not measured results. The provenance reference, “Why and Where: A Characterization of Data Provenance,” informs the distinction between contributing data and source locations. The source review was limited to its two-page publisher preview, covering the abstract and introduction.